


How Close We Are

by YesThatPanda



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Chakra Rewrite, Character Death, Character Rewrite, Fourth Shinobi War, Multi, No character bashing, Peace, Proper Power Scaling, War, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:49:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27991806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YesThatPanda/pseuds/YesThatPanda
Summary: 16 years ago the Third Great Shinobi War ended, leaving the Great Nations in peace. But peace cannot last. With a civil war raging in the Land of Water, unstable politics in the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth itching for vengeance, one of the Sannin sneaking in the shadows, and a mysterious organization with S-Rank criminals plotting, war is closer than ever. Canon Divergence, Mostly Canon Ships, Canon Rewrite
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto
Kudos: 18





	1. Prologue: A Change In Fate

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Just some context for the purpose of this fic. I wanted to rewrite the Naruto story with three major corrections; 1) I wanted the story to have a single theme to focus on from pretty much beginning to end: War vs Peace, the duality of man. 2) Giving antagonists different goals and reasons for doing what they do, not just saying everyone is trying to achieve 'peace'. 3) Bring importance to both side-characters and side-plots, everything isn't going to revolve around and connect to a single person, somethings are just random tangents that intersect with the main plot.

A Change In Fate

Land of Waves - Unnamed Bridge

February 26

True to his epithet the man tore through the bandit army like a demon chased from hell, the single kunai in his teeth drawing more blood than it should have ever been able too. With smooth, dance-like movement Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, brought down enemy after enemy on his path towards the small businessman placed in the rear. Slicing through the neck of one he twisted on a single foot to block the decapitating blow sent by another, reversing his twist to allow the large blade to be pushed away from his neck and into the arm of a third man whose knee he kicked backwards. Bandits who had a lick of sense put distance between their target whilst those who had none merely charged forward to meet their sudden, violent death. Step after step, body after body brought the Hidden Mist swordsman closer to his final goal, who, having begun to feel the fear of death approaching, had taken to shouting at his gathered army to' just kill him' and when Zabuza didn't drop dead at his words the short man unconsciously began to step away.

Now halfway through the crowd the missing-nin noticed that he had lost feeling to his legs, bringing him to stumble through his next attack and only leaving the bandit with a bloody wound across his shoulder instead of his throat. Even as the bandit screamed in pain he had enough control to jam the knife into Zabuza's side as the serrated edge caught on a rib and yanked it from the bandit's weakened hand, still embedded in his side. Gritting his teeth around the kunai until he felt them crack slightly it allowed him to swallow the last of the pain his broken body could emit. Besides, what was a single knife when compared to the four swords jabbed into his back and arrows stuck in his useless arms? As he strode over the latest wounded man he switched his method of attack and began to maneuver around his enemies instead of running through them. Sidestepping telegraphed attacks then capitalizing on their mistakes to advance allowed him to retain the last dregs of his energy for Gatō. Vaulting across the hunched back of a bandit he finally saw the edge of the crowd, and knew that he had made it, just three worms to get past and he would gut the worthless coward. Three more worms and he would join Haku once more.

Crashing into the first with headbutt he felt cartilage crunch as the bandit fell back under his weight, then stepping on the downed man's stomach allowed Zabuza to move onto the second bandit who raised his heavy wooden shield to stop him. Throwing his feet against the shield Zabuza pushed as much chakra into his feet as he could, too much in fact, which resulted in the shield splintering like plywood into the bandits arm. As he was pushed back by his own chakra he struggled for a moment to regain his footing before resuming to move, lest his body give out. Ignoring the splinters in his arm, the second bandit swung his blade at Zabuza once more aiming to cleave him through the abdomen. Throwing himself to the side he managed to avoid spilling his entrails and only got a shallow cut across his stomach instead. With his feet off the ground Zabuza noticed a blur out of the corner of his eye, just as the arrow burrowed through his left eye deep into his brain.

Shock ran through the remains of his brain as he realized he was dead before he could get to Gatō. As his vision darkened he couldn't even tell who had done it, the archer was lost in the bandit army. The absurd idea that he, the Demon of the Hidden Mist and one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist, was killed by a mere bandit who probably couldn't even register as a D-rank criminal. As the blackness engulfed him he could only muster the thought that he had failed Haku once more and prayed that the boy could forgive him.

Gatō froze just as he had turned to run away watching in complete shock as the body of his former mercenary collapsed amongst the bandits. Everyone seemed to hold their breath, waiting for the demon to rise once more, frozen in place for something to happen. Shaking off the remnants of Zabuza's killer intent, one bandit marched over to the body and plunged his sword through the neck to ensure his death. Yet even with the bandit's blade red with blood, the businessman held his breath till the lack of oxygen caused his lungs to burn. A spasm forced his airway to reopen and he drew a ragged breath, the pain in his lungs fading along with the animalistic fear. The Demon of the Mist was dead, truly dead. Suddenly Gatō released a single, soundless, laugh followed by several more after a few seconds. Laughing out the very air he just breathed in brought on a headrush, but his relief outweighed the disorientating feeling.

Turning back around he faced the corpse once known as Zabuza Momochi, covered in grim and blood, filled with arrows and blades, and most importantly _dead_. The smirk that had fled at the deadman's charge returned in force upon the short man's lips, giving him a sort-of maniac look that furthered his unfavorable face. Looking up towards the four remaining shinobi, along with the old bridge builder, that stood near the unfinished bridge edge brought a sense of excitement to him for he was right, and had always been. Shinobi were overpriced mercenaries and nothing more. With one of them already unconscious, the older one looking like he was just about to drop dead, and two mere children, who were they compared to the 'Demon of the Mist'? A man that was killed by gutter-rats he had hired for basically nothing.

"What are you fools waiting for!? Finish off these _mighty shinobi_ and earn your pay!' Gatō's voice rolled over the bandits before him, strong and authoritative as he always was.

Cheers met his words as they charged once again down the bridge to draw blood. Too far away to hear them, Gatō saw the older shinobi speak to the orange brat before forming a hand sign that created a perfect copy standing beside the original. Pink hair waved as the other brat stepped before Tazuna, passing the unconscious brat to him, then standing before both with a small kunai clutched in both her hands. Glancing back at the orange one revealed the same hand sign as before, only this time the boy yelled so loud even he heard him from behind the mass of bandits.

" **Kage Bushin no Jutsu!** "

Smoke filled the air around them, and he began to feel the excitement fade as nearly three dozen orange brats armed with two kunai each charged to meet his forces. Metal rang as the fighting started...and nearly immediately began to stop as the bandits dropped quicker than leaves on a windy day. For every one of the brats that disappeared he lost two bandits, and for every bandit lost at the front of the crowd, another turned tail and ran back towards the town.

Yelling curses and insults at the fleeing men did nothing, more and more ran away until the entire mob unanimously decided to cut their losses. Gatō's eye darted between his former army before landing upon the garish orange wave chasing after them. Panic returned to the little man as he turned to sprint for the small boat he had taken to the bridge.

A few bandits had decided to commandeer the small vessel as their escape method, half a dozen men crowded around the rope ladder leading down to it. Gatō paused as he watched the muscular men brawl for the line, knowing that he stood no chance at grabbing it himself. That left only one option he really didn't want to do. Groaning at the fact that he would have to ruin his fine silk business suit, he dropped his cane and climbed up the bridge's barrier to look over into the icy waters below. Hearing a shout from behind as the orange brat brought down another cowardly street rat too close for comfort, Gatō jumped off and crashed into the freezing ocean.

Swimming was never his greatest strength but desperation and cold pushed his stunty limbs into overdrive. Breaking the surface of the water brought about more stinging pain as the air attacked his cold body, giving him another reason to hate the entire fucking country. He swore if he made it out of this alive he would burn the Land of Waves to the ground regardless of the cost. Thankfully the boat was only a few feet away so death by drowning was out of the question. As he reached the side of the boat he pulled himself up, rather he attempted to, but his damn jacket, that was now a ruined mess, got caught on the uneven hull of the metal boat. Shrugging his shoulders out he felt the jacket get caught around his waist and, with another string of curses, managed to kick the waste of seven-hundred-thousand ryō off into the depths below. Pulling with all his might he managed to hook his arms over the side and finally get a moment of rest. How anyone could spend all day doing manual labour was beyond him.

Flinching at the hand that came to rest on his shirt collar, Gatō didn't even get a chance to look at the owner of said hand before he was lifted into the boat. Laying across the bench inside he looked over at the man who helped him, bald with not a single hair upon his face and a simple stripe tattoo connecting his bottom lip to under his chin, he noted the fact that the two of them were the only ones on the boat. The rope ladder was strained under four other bandits as several others fell from the bridge around them.

Addressing the bald man, "Get me out of here now and I'll pay you five times the amount I hired you for."

The bandit didn't even blink before he cut the lines anchoring the boat and powered on the motor, now things were going like he was use to. Shouts and exclamations sounded around them as the boat rushed away from the bridge moving past grasping hands, bowling over one man who had ended up floating before them, and out into open waters. Sighing in relief at the successful escape, Gatō eyed the bandit manning the motor, already planning to have his remaining guard gut the coward as soon as he got back to his compound.

Gazing back towards the bridge, now being able to see the top, he watched as the horde of orange pushed the remaining bandits back into town while the two grey-haired shinobi secured the bandits that had surrendered. Anger reared within as Gatō concluded that he wouldn't be able to kill the bridge builders in time, not after he had hired every street rat on the southern coast of Fire. Fury answered in kind as he calculated the losses that purchasing so many properties in Wave had caused.

Face purpling he released a scream that echoed miles across the gentle waves.

-[🍃]-

Land of Waves - Eastern Shore

March 3

_One week_ , Gatō thought.

Eight months prior he had arrived in the Land of Waves following a lead that the daimyō was in need of a new financial advisor. A few months of schmoozing up to the royalty and the falsified summons from the Fire daimyō was all it took to throw the small country into chaos. Well, a hidden explosive note on the royal barge along with a small word to the criminal families in Tea was all it _really_ took.

Afterwards he had either bribed or killed off the remaining advisors, keeping the nobility busy long enough to increase the taxation on industry. With that done, business started to dry up as other countries immediately ended trade agreements and local shop owners were forced to sell off their businesses practically overnight. At this point he stepped in and purchased nearly all the industry across the six different ports in Wave for less than tenth their base value. He still pat himself on the back for how well things turned out here.

The rest of the country had sold out to him shortly afterwards and he began to import his own goods through every shop he now owned. His tight fist had squeezed the island for all it's worth, and soon it would have been in massive debt to his company as they traded their own freedom for basic necessities. But then Tazuna had to go and bring in the damn Konoha shinobi to ruin his hard work.

_One fucking week. And it became just a waste of effort and resources_.

The porcelain vase depicting the founding of Wave was the first to be shattered against the meeting room's wall, and was soon joined by the other priceless works in the room.

A week ago he had gotten back to his compound on the eastern shore of the island country shivering and coughing up a lung from the sudden snowfall that had rolled over the northern coast. He had gone straight to his remaining guard, a rōnin from Nagi Island, planning to off the bald coward then and there. Only to find that the rōnin, who he had left to guard his compound, had managed to break into one of his smaller vaults and make off with over a million ryō. The one reason he had brought on the wanted man was because his BINGO book entry had said he was dumb as rocks, the perfect man to guard a vault without knowing it was a vault.

That had resulted in the portrait of the Wave's second daimyō being burnt to ash.

Now with all three of his personal guards gone Gatō needed someone to protect him. Which left him with the bald fucking coward, one he couldn't trust to keep him safe, but the only thug that had remained loyal. Not to him, but to his paycheck. Of course once he got back to his home in the Land of Ships he would find another rōnin, hopefully from Iron, to put the thug down like a dog.

The next day he had his staff beginning to load the ships and prepare to depart, taking everything of monetary value from his compound. Due to having such few staff - why the hell would he pay for a hundred employee's when he could have six and hire street rats for next to nothing? - it took nearly three days to finish loading the first two. On the fifth day, his aide had stolen several folders of false information he kept as a failsafe for security. He had thanked whatever gracious god still watched over him that the bitch was not as smart as she was attractive.

A pearl necklace, heirloom to the royal lineage that ruled these islands before the Wave daimyō took power, had been crushed beneath his foot and thrown deep into the ocean later that day.

Now, he paced across the meeting room, glass crunching underfoot as he waited for the last ship to finish loading so he could leave this damn country, even if it was the middle of the night. Just waiting here, stewing in his failures brought about yet another flash of rage. Grabbing one of the glasses that had belonged to...somebody of importance in the Land of Waves, it shattered through the meeting room window and disappeared into the darkened trees outside. He had promised himself he would destroy the island country and he had a good head start if the remains scattered about were any indication. Of course he couldn't do much now, but maybe a few years down the line he could hire out an entire Yakuza family to sink the island into the sea. Shivering at the freezing wind that now blew directly into his face, Gatō turned and slammed open the imported wooden doors and marched towards his office. Waving off...Tosu...Tofu - that bald bastard he was forced to keep around - keeping him standing before the meeting room, he continued on alone.

While the exterior of his compound was dull concrete, the inside had been decorated carefully to ensure his business dealings were entirely controlled from beginning to end. Walls made of mahogany perfectly complemented polished sandstone floors, laid out to minimise shadows and well lit to overwhelm the senses. Every public room was significantly warmer than what was considered standard while his own personal rooms resided at a nice, cool temperature that prevented him from overheating. Hallways echoed even the faintest steps, while the scale of them purposely exaggerated to make those inside feel small. Any chair he himself didn't sit in had minimal padding and an intentionally terrible design to make visitors as uncomfortable as physically possible. It was a building he used to be proud of since he had never made a bad deal within its walls, and now he wanted to see it gone as well.

Gatō walked down the twisting hallways till he entered his office, decorated similarly as everywhere else, yet here he showed off every ounce of his hard-earned wealth.

Again, used to show off as everything had been loaded upon the first ship back home. Approaching his desk he sat down at it and pulled out a saké bottle from the drawer, not bothering to use a cup, he drank straight from the ceramic bottle. Gulping generously he gave a long sigh and relaxed into the fine leather chair allowing the alcohol to do its work. The only good quality of this country was the cool ambient atmosphere, which added to his saké's taste.

From outside his closed door he heard footsteps approaching. A frown settled on his features as he tried to place the sounds to a person. It was one thing he had learned early on in his dealings, being in complete control of any situation gave him the advantage. But these footsteps did not belong to bald coward, too heavy. Neither were they the captain of his final ship, too even. Too calm to be any of his employees. Whoever was approaching was nearly at the door, so he shoved the bottle back into the drawer and straightened his grey suit jacket.

Counting the steps in his head Gatō reached one and stared into the doors where he assumed their head would be...only to be met with silence. He waited for the doorknob to turn, counting heartbeats in silence that seemed to go on and on. Frowning as a minute passed he began to rise from his seat when the door was broken in with enough force to break the lock. Shooting up to his feet he opened his mouth to shout for Tuka only to freeze as he finally placed the footsteps to the man. Well _man_ was merely his assumption for the figure was definitely not human.

Black cloak covered the majority of his body, only broken up by a red lining and several stylized clouds of the same color he knew surrounded the lower half. With his head being covered by a grey hood alongside two black bandanas that covered his forehead and mouth, only his eyes and hands were visible. A shinobi hitai-ate depicting a waterfall was wrapped around his forehead, yet this was no shinobi. Two green eyes stared across the office at him, the unnatural coloring only furthering Gatō's belief that he was not human in the slightest. Returning one horribly stitched arm to his side the... _thing_ slowly began to walk towards him.

Blinking suddenly became the most difficult thing he had ever done as shock overcame every wit the short man possessed.

"You have been avoiding my messages Gatō," a voice growled from beneath the bandana.

"N-no-no I-"

"I didn't cross half the continent to hear your excuses," now halfway to his desk the height difference already began to overshadow the businessman.

Swallowing the knot that appeared in his throat Gatō quickly replied, "No Kakazu-san, I was not avoiding you! I was merely under the impression that your organization was still busy in the Land of Rain."

Kakazu kicked the chairs away from the front of his desk and stood in their place, cloak just barely grazing the sides. Gatō now had to tilt his head back a full forty-five degree angle to meet inhuman eyes, and felt as if the entire room had gotten dark from the others mere presence. Throat bobbing he pushed bile back down his throat as the smell of dirt and decay flooded around him.

No, Kakazu was not a _human_ at all.

"I hope your... _private ventures_ have not compromised our deal. We have entrusted a considerable amount to your company."

Not trusting himself to withhold his own stomach contents, Gatō simply shook his head.

"Are you in possession of our completed order?"

"No-not quite-" seeing the eyes harden with what he could only believe was anger Gatō quickly clarified, "W-what I mean is that the final shipments will be arriving by the end of the month at the latest. You know...due to the significant sums the Akatsuki have entrusted me with I-I assumed safe delivery of the entire order was top priority."

Silent breaths met his answer, the tall being stared down at him as if to see through his very being. When Kakazu remained silent Gatō saw that there was movement behind his lower bandana, small rustles that one could easily believe was a tongue if it weren't for the fact that it was tiny worm-sized bumps. Or the fact that there were more than one at a time. He nearly forgot to keep his face neutral as bile rose up his throat once more.

Kakazu's voice rolled over him once more, "Very well. You will head to the port of Kukū on Taro Island in the Land of the Sea and await for further orders."

Nodding furiously Gatō replied, "Of course I will leave at dawn."

"You will leave now." Kakazu's eyes bored into him as he stepped around his desk and nearly sprinted for the door before the intimidating voice halted him once more. "After you have arrived you will ready the entire shipment for transport. Keep them on stand-by until we give you the word."

"As you wish," Gatō paused for a moment to see if anything else would be said then continued on after none was forthcoming. In his haste, all thoughts about the past week's events fled his mind. And why wouldn't they?

Gatō did not fear the brats from Konoha, he did not fear the ice bitch, he didn't even fear Zabuza the so-called 'Demon of the Mist'. They were merely shinobi, overrated mercenaries.

But Kakazu?

Kakazu was a monster.

And everybody feared monsters.


	2. Beware Quiet Waters

Beware Quiet Waters

Land of Fire - Konohagakure

March 14

Naruto ran through the morning streets with excitement bubbling within. Team Seven was finally ordered to meet after a week off following the mission in the Land of Waves by the orders of jiji-san. Well to be entirely accurate it had been eight-and-a-half days once they finished reviewing said mission with the Hokage.

And he had never been so bored for seven days straight.

Sleeping for a full twenty-six hours then feasting for another five at Ichiraku's had been all he needed before wanting to return to work. But according to Kakashi-sensei his 'rubber-band biology' was not shared by the other members of Team Seven, who would need the full week to recover. Thus began the repetitive schedule of sleeping in as late as possible, then either practicing tree-walking or training with Konohamaru on perfecting his student’s pranking skills. But for the most part he had stewed in boredom waiting for the hours to tick by. Two days ago he had even ventured into the village library for the first time ever, and ignoring the glares from each librarian within had confirmed what he had known for a long time already. _He hated reading_. But it had burned an hour for him so he was thankful for that at least. Last night had been sweet relief as he had managed to convince Iruka-sensei to join him for dinner at Ichiraku celebrating the end of his hellish 'rest and relaxation' period.

So even though he knew that arriving an hour before the time Kakashi-sensei had given them was a waste, as well as the fact that the jōnin would be at least an additional two hours late, he still ignored the glares sent his way by the early morning citizens just to end his torment sooner.

Training Ground Three was dusted with frost and steam as the morning sun streamed through the trees to bath the clearing in a gentle light. Naruto perched upon his middle wooden pillar and unwrapped his warmed bento box allowing the wonderful smell to bring a smile of remorse to him. Perfectly grilled chicken rested upon fresh, fluffy rice with steamed vegetables all contained in a lacquered wooden box depicting the Konoha emblem proudly upon its lid.

He had never even dreamed of purchasing such a fine meal before graduating from the Academy. The base price alone would have put him out of his apartment, but the unfair rise in cost due to it being _him_ buying it guaranteed he would never get it. With his first A-Rank mission paycheck he had easily afforded the exorbitantly inflated price.

Breaking apart the delicately carved chopsticks after a silent 'Itadakimasu' Naruto slowly began to eat, savoring each bite in the cold morning. While ramen was the greatest food ever created, he could appreciate the effort someone had given this meal and the taste in turn. Closing his eyes he bit into a well seasoned strip of chicken and imagined that this is what a home-cooked meal tasted like.

Sure he had cooked at home before, and not just his instant ramen but actual food, though his efforts always ended in filling his small apartment with smoke. Vegetables always soggy, meat turned black, and rice was either still hard or mushy, but he had learned to eat whatever he could get. Few would even make food for him, and none would ever make it for free - old man Teuchi being the one exception.

Grabbing a potato with his utensil he brought it to his lips and imagined that he had someone who cared enough to make him this breakfast.

\-----

Sasuke was the next to arrive exactly at the specified time, duck-butt hair perfect as usual. Other than a mutual greeting of 'dobe' and 'teme' both remained silent in wait. Naruto had grown bored after just ten minutes so he moved to the riverbank and attempted to skip rocks across the gentle surface.

The first stone simply plunked straight to the bottom while the second managed a single bounce before spinning into the cold depths. Minutes ticked by as dozens of rocks were sunk in rapid succession with only three or four managing a few skips. Throwing the last stone in his hand he watched as it hit the water and jumped back up. Seeing it skip again brought his lips up in the beginnings of a smile. Another one followed as it still retained enough momentum to continue on to the otherside-

Suddenly another rock sailed over his head, arcing down till it collided with his skipping stone forcing both into the water with a splash.

Naruto's smile had reversed into a fox-eyed frown knowing exactly who was responsible for interrupting his game. Turning his head just enough to see his asshole of a teammate still leaning against the left pillar with an arm lowering from his throw and a smirk in place. Staring at the Uchiha for an exaggerated length of time he returned to facing the river and pondered a moment. Bending over and grabbing another rock, this time rounded and hefty, he juggled it to become familiar with the weight before taking a deep breath. Twirling around as fast as his muscles could, Naruto allowed momentum to carry his arm around before releasing the stone. Flying off towards the dark-haired boy quick as a bird, Naruto watched as Sasuke's hand flew up to catch the projectile inches from his shoulder. Smirk still in place, he moved the rock between his index and middle fingers before allowing it to drop to the dirt nonchalantly.

Tick mark appearing above his temple Naruto raised an eyebrow at his rival after picking up a handful of rocks. Charcoal eyes met cerulean across the empty field in silent acceptance. When a kunai appeared in Sasuke's right hand, Naruto moved a single rock to his other hand and flung it downwind.

Soon metal rang as Sasuke deflected every rock Naruto threw. Twirling back and forth the blonde released stones of varying sizes in haphazard patterns trying to break through the others defense. The single kunai twisted about in the boy's grip intercepting each one as charcoal eyes darted about keeping track of new ones. Swiping down he smacked a flat rock into the dirt before pulling his arm back rapidly and catching a jagged one against the end ring. Stepping to the side he allowed another to thunk into the wooden pillar behind, then tossed the blade into his left hand just in time to have one scrape along the length and bounce off a knuckle.

Naruto finished yet another overhand throw as he saw he had only two remaining. Grinning in mischief he deliberately telegraphed his overpowered throw, so overpowered in fact that he pulled a muscle in his arm releasing it and threw himself into a stumbling spin.

Downrange, Sasuke watched as his teammate threw the final stone slightly surprised at the speed it managed. While he would never admit it, keeping track of this rock was difficult without his Sharingan. But he had deflected every other one without it so far and would do it again. Flicking his kunai into a reverse grip he slashed across his chest and felt, more than saw, the stone strike the metal. Straightening up he met his rival's eyes as the smirk returned, almost threatening to be an actual smile.

Until a small rock hit right on the top of his head just above his haiti-te. Smirk vanishing quicker than ramen into a certain orange shinobi's stomach, he blinked owlishly waiting for his stinging brain to find out how he missed it. Replaying Naruto's last throw he saw the build up and the swing...and was focused entirely on the rapid stone traveling straight at him, but not the boy's hand. After releasing the first stone he had kept it going down past his leg, momentum throwing off his balance till he was forced to spin around to keep it. At which point he had released the second stone overhead arcing down towards where Sasuke currently stood.

Cheeks reddening in embarrassment as the Uzumaki adopted a smug smile of victory, Sasuke reached into his thigh holster and grabbed a second kunai. Resuming his previous stance he raised both hands clutching a kunai into a ready position. Naruto watched as charcoal eyes swirled into red, a single tome spinning into existence in each only to freeze into an unnerving stare. Grinning in excitement his fingers formed into a familiar crossed hand sign, time to get serious.

Just as two shadow clones appeared on either side of Naruto, a voice spoke from the treeline drawing both boy's attention.

"Yo."

Silence fell over the training ground as both genin blinked rapidly and tried to make sense of reality. Judging by the position of the early morning sun it was only a few minutes past eight o'clock, the time that Kakashi had instructed them to meet.

And he was here at said time. Hell he was here before _Sakura_ and she had the habit of being present at exactly the specified time. So either their sensei stood ten meters away leaning against a tree or someone had placed a genjutsu on them. Logic thoughts prevailed and both tried to break free of this unknown attack. After failing to dispel the illusion for several moments they turned to face their sweat-dropping sensei in complete shock.

"Come now, there is no need to act like that," the gray haired jōnin said, waving his hand lazily before his face.

"You are on time..." Sasuke mumbled, eyes returning to normal coloration while his face lost it.

"Something horrible must be happening!" Naruto cried as his clones simultaneously decided that today was not a good day for existing.

Kakashi stared at his two students freaking out, raising his hands to try and calm them down when footsteps sounded from the path behind the memorial stone.

Sakura stepped off the dirt path worn through the trees onto the grass clearing of Training Ground Three and called out a greeting. When neither boy seemed to take notice she followed their eye line to the older man and joined in the shock.

"I'm later than Kakashi-sensei?" Rain clouds formed over her head at the implications this presented.

Naruto began to hyperventilate while Sasuke continued to imitate a fish gasping for water.

Eye flattening in confusion Kakashi pressed a finger to his covered lips and asked, "I said to meet here at six, right?"

Despair thickening over her head Sakura mumbled in response, "So even when you intentionally planned to be late you arrived before me?"

Sasuke fell back unconscious as the other boy turned and ran screaming back towards the village.

"Oi,oi! You guys are just being mean now..." Kakashi sighed.

\-----

An hour later after corralling his students back into the clearing and convincing them that, yes he was here on time, Kakashi began the meeting.

"Once again I want to congratulate each of you on the successful mission to the Land of Waves. Take pride in the fact that this team is the only one of your class to complete an A-Rank mission."

Pausing to allow all three faces to light up in happiness, along with one whoop of excitement from a certain orange clad shinobi, Kakashi continued on.

"And I want you to acknowledge the failures each of you encountered during this mission." Kakashi smiled under his mask at one flushed face of embarrassment, one glare of indignation, and a pinched, foxy face of confusion.

"Sasuke, Naruto. Both of you showed excellent teamwork and execution enacting unprepared plans. However," turning towards the Uchiha.

"While you managed to analyze each situation you were forced into and come to a reasonable conclusion, you failed to acknowledge your opponents strength and your own weakness. While you made the correct call to engage Haku away from Tazuna you also failed to retreat once the advantage had been lost."

Turning away from the intense glare the adolescent shot his way, "Naruto, you did well ensuring the safety of Tsunami and Inari without aid and figuring out that Tazuna was under attack at the bridge. You even managed to retain the element of surprise when jumping into an unknown situation. But that is where your failure resides. Because you jumped into an unknown situation you were trapped by Haku of your own volition, thus ridding yourself of any advantage you held."

His words were met with silence as the boy stared at him in confusion. Sighing, he paused before speaking again.

"You need to be patient when fighting an enemy you don't know."

"Oh...why didn't you say that instead of writing poetry?"

Kakashi ignored his question and turned towards Team Seven's sole kunoichi.

"Perfect textbook procedure in protecting your client Sakura, as well as understanding the massive difference in strength between you and your enemy. But you cannot remain out of a fight just because there is a difference in strength." Holding up a hand as her mouth opened to refute his statement he pushed on, "Yes you could not have beaten either Haku or Zabuza on your own, but you could have assisted any of us in our fights. 'A momentary slip in concentration can be the turning point of any battle, great or small.'"

"Sandaime Hokage," she identified the quote from the Academy's primary tactics handbook quietly before looking down to the dirt.

Nodding in approval he spoke again, "But yours are not the only failures during that mission. I have mine as well."

Three heads shot up to meet their sensei's gaze in shock. "While nobody was aware of the true nature of this mission, I could have prepared each of you better for your first mission outside the village. Unlike the majority of your graduating class none of you have anyone but me to teach you how to be shinobi. The skills you have now are all you can rely on and I should have addressed this earlier. So until you each have a strong foundation to stand upon, we will focus entirely on training your skills to get you level with the other genin you graduated with."

"But how can the others be better than us if none have done their own A-Rank mission?" Naruto asked.

"Well, you only learned how to tree-walk after I showed you back in Waves correct?" Pausing for the nods he already knew were coming, "Most of your fellow classmates had already learned how to do that exercise prior to graduation. That is because they had clans or families that ensured this skill was mastered to quicken their training."

Naruto felt a flash of resentment as another disadvantage he faced was brought up due to being born alone. Forcing away darker thoughts of his unwanted tenant he saw similar upset expressions on his teammates as they appeared to be thinking the same. Warm comfort settled in his heart knowing he was not alone in this.

"So...what skill are you going to teach us next Kakashi-sensei, " asked Sakura as green-eyes looked up in nervousness.

Eye turning up into a smile the gray-haired man began to walk past them, forcing their heads to turn so he remained in sight. "The next skill you each shall master is another one every shinobi must learn to be an effective member of Konohagakure."

They watched as their teacher approached the rivers edge and continued into the water...or rather, onto the water's surface. Three sets of eyes watched on in wonder as he calmly walked across thigh-high water without getting a single drop on himself.

"Similar to the tree-walking technique but instead of _holding_ a small amount of chakra at your feet, you _push_ a constant amount out to keep yourself buoyant atop the water." Scratching his head with a single arm sheepishly he added, "Actually this would have been perfect for the mission to Wave as you wouldn't have been so hindered in movement."

"YOU THINK?!?" a group of birds were startled out of the trees as three overlapping shouts rang across the training ground.

\--[🍃]--

Land of Fire - Konohagakure

March 20

Eyes snapping open at the disturbance, Sarutobi Hiruzen followed decades of experience in sourcing the noise that had broken his slumber. Aches and pains that had grown throughout his body over the years pushed aside, he eyed various fixtures within the Hokage's office; the shelves, desk, and additional chairs all remained in their proper location while the doors, both hidden and visible, remained closed. Within the span of an eyeblink he had cleared the room and began to turn towards the large window behind him when a rap on its surface sounded again.

Turning to look he was surprised to see the familiar spiky white hair and red haori of his former pupil being the one responsible. Blinking wide-eyed for a moment to be sure this wasn't a post nap delusion, the Sandaime quickly let a smile grow and unlocked the window to allow him in. Jiraiya stepped into the office returning the smile and closed the window behind him.

"You see, if your recruitment speech for taking the mantle of Hokage was the ability to sleep any time of the day, I might have agreed to be the Godaime Saru-sensei!"

Smile widening as the decades slipped away instantly till they stood before one another in the training area, sensei and pupil laughing together. "If that was all it took for you to actually accept the position, I don't think sleep would ever be so easy for me to achieve." Hiruzen said, chuckling gently as Jiraiya joined in.

He let the air between them remain light even though his pupils presence in the village was an unexpected event, since the last time they had seen each other was over two years ago. The only one of his students that he could say he had a good relationship with, while one he hadn't seen in over ten years and the other had abandoned Konoha decades ago. Just thinking of his greatest failure immediately brought down his current jovial mood a notch, so he chose to focus on the Sannin before him.

"How goes your research Jiraiya?" His question purposely worded to allow interpretation.

"Quite well in fact! And thanks to my diligent work across this great land, from the Land of Frost to the great Land of Lakes, I can announce the imminent arrival of my greatest work yet." Spreading his hands out before him he mimed holding a great jewel in his hand before continuing, "Icha Icha Tactics! Long hailed as the ultimate story of all time, long awaited by millions across every nation, it will be three-hundred and eight pages of heart-racing, tear-jerking, cheek-burning beauty!"

Reaching into his haori and rummaging about for a bit he produced a dozen or so pages tied together with a fine leather strap. "Of course it is still well in its infancy and needs plenty of nourishment before blooming in full, but even I will need input from a reputable source to aid in its creation. So with great pleasure I present a beginning draft for your enjoyment."

Silence filled the office as Hiruzen observed the offered gift, all prior signs of amusement vanishing like smoke on a windy day. While the Hokage was never one to deny his interest in his student's philosophical works - in fact the bookshelf within his bedroom proudly displayed each and every work - but aside from the first two works he had purchased them all himself from the nearby bookstore over the years. Jiraiya hadn't given him a copy since his students had left his tutelage, leaving the older man as one more fan amongst millions desperately waiting for the next part in the saga. So the very fact that now he was offering to allow his long-suffering sensei to not only be the first one to see how the story played out, but to also have an unfiltered version meant the Sandaime was about to get truly terrible news.

Leaving the pages in his pupils hand he activated the dozens of sealings hidden across the room that ensured complete privacy before reaching for his pipe. Allowing Jiraiya to sweat-drop at his blatant failure of throwing the elder off, Hiruzen lit his pipe and gestured for him to take a seat. Dropping the pages onto the desk followed by an amused huff, the Toad Sage removed the large storage scroll from his back to rest on the side of his chair before seating himself down. Immediately his demeanor changed to resemble the man of the legendary Sannin, a shinobi through and through.

"Should have known better than to try and soften it up," sighing he continued, "Well it could be worse, but not by much. There is still no concrete signs of Orochimaru's location but rumors have it that he has been moving about recently; throughout Sound and Grass it appears he has been meeting with several individuals but nobody is naming names, a few sporadic visits to Rain although due to the nations isolationism I can't say exactly where, and mixed reports of communication between him and the Land of Earth."

Taking an extended drag on his pipe Hiruzen let his burning lungs distract him from laminating, once again, on his failures toward the traitorous Sannin. Holding in the acrid smoke for several moments he remembered the last time he had seen Orochimaru, standing within that dark laboratory of horrors before fleeing into the night after his own inability to see the evil that had destroyed his old student. With a haggard cough his aged body expelled the poison and he reaffirmed his determination to bring the snake to justice himself, even if it was the last thing he did.

"Have you found any other hideouts than those Anko has demolished?"

Shrugging Jiraiya answered, "Found two in the last six months, one on the western coast of Tea and another near the ruins of Rōran, but they had been abandoned years ago with no leads to anywhere else."

"Orochimaru has always been the most patient out of you three," Hiruzen said with a sigh followed by another long drag. "What about this 'Akatsuki'? Have you managed to gather any additional information on this mercenary group?"

"More than I had in my last report but still missing enough to be worrying. While we only know the identities of four members; Orochimaru, Itachi Uchiha, Sasori of the Red Sand, and Kisame Hoshigaki, I believe there are up to a dozen in total." Shifting in his seat Jiraiya looked out the window into the village for a moment before speaking again, "But despite all accounts of them being a mercenary group I refuse to buy that so many S-Rank missing-nins would gather together to fight for pocket change."

Hiruzen watched on as his pupil's mind turned over the argument for what had to be the hundredth time.

"Sure the presence of Itachi and Kisame would allude to the idea that they aren't actually in it for the money but rather the bloodshed and violence...although Orochimaru throws that line of thought out the window. Because despite his complete apathy towards others he isn't one to go out of his way to fight for fun. Justified slaughter, or whatever he sees as justified, is much more his style."

The Toad Sage lapsed into silence for a moment as his thoughts seemed to overwhelm him, during which allowed the older man to once again regret his previous decisions regarding a certain prodigy. Thankfully his guest resumed reporting the events of the world to keep the Sandaime in the here and now.

"Whoever has managed to gather wildly differing shinobi, all from varying villages and with certainly unaligned goals, must have an endgame plan suited towards all interests. And I'm sure that whatever it is, we'll need to stop it sooner rather than later."

"Are you sure that Orochimaru is an active member? This wouldn't be the first time he attached himself to a group only to slither away as soon as he accomplished whichever goal holds his fancy," the Hokage questioned.

Shaking his head sharply the younger man unsealed a smaller scroll from his larger one. "I have five recorded events from eyewitnesses that confirm his collaboration with several Akatsuki members. Twice with Itachi, twice with Sasori, and another time with a yet unidentified female member from Amegakure dating back seven years with the most recent being fourteen months ago." Unrolling the page across the desk he pointed out a section before listing off, "An assassination of Governor Okanu seven years ago, the kidnapping attempt of the Wind Daimyō's niece three years ago, the destruction of the Kiri outpost in the Land of Sea two-and-a-half years ago, ending the uprising in the Land of Sand twenty months ago, and the slaughter of the Jinju Family crime syndicate fourteen months ago."

Hiruzen looked over the scroll as his pupil sighed in frustration before finishing, "With such large gaps between sightings it is hard to tell if he remains within or is brought on when needed. But the Akatsuki has shown no outside interest in anything other than money, accepting contracts from both minor and great nations alike."

Puffing out another smoke ring the old man kept his composure as his gut clenched in anxiety. Despite his appearance and nature, Jiraiya was an excellent spymaster with a well established network across the continent and had been the reason for such an extended duration of peace, even managing to surpass Danzo in his reach of information. But the fact that even _he_ hadn't managed to catch on to the Akatsuki’s interest in jinchūriki yet just showed how dangerous they truly were. While Itachi's reports were few and far between, he had made repeated confirmation that the group had an active interest in bijū having clashed with the Sanbi's host repeatedly. Having an organization with an unknown intent pushing for such power was more than a little worrying.

"We need to know more if Konoha is to make a move against them. Identify the remaining members, figure out where their funding is going, and piece together the end goal they have. I'll ready up several ANBU and Tobektsu squads to aid you in this," the Sandaime said.

"You might want to keep those men here Saru-sensei, you will need them." At his curious gaze the younger man continued, "Trouble out of Suna, the Kazekage and Wind Daimyō have been at odds again. Started about three months ago when they had a meeting which ended in, quote 'shouts and threats', afterwards the political ramifications rose. Wind Daimyō shunted funds away from Sunagakure and into the port of Zawaka, leading to a shut down of production in the village. Kazekage then removed all shinobi forces from the port and placed them in the eastern oil fields, 'to ensure the protection of the nation's economy'."

Mouth pressing closed, Hiruzen let his pipe smolder in his hand as he thought deeply. Due to the outsourcing of employment into the Land of Fire, the relationship between the military and political government in the Land of Wind had steadily deteriorated in the past six years. While he knew a full-blown civil war was unlikely, a bloody schism was well within possibility. Not to mention the fact that the alliance between Konoha and Suna had been established because of the Daimyō's, and losing the Wind Daimyō would put that alliance in jeopardy. But before he could respond his pupil pushed on.

"If that wasn't bad enough Iwa has been hosting many foreign dignitaries from the west. According to my sources they have had nobles from the Lands of Sand, Plains, and Lakes as well as the Daimyō from the Land of Forests."

Well that was even worse. Iwa was not a nation to host foreigners for tea, more for finding common hatred and distrust towards another nation.

Iwa was easily Konoha's greatest rival, especially following the Third Great Shinobi War and Minato's decisive victory and subsequent destruction of Kannabi Bridge. Without the future Yondaime's victory there the Third Great War would have continued on perhaps for even a few more years, but after suffering the thousand shinobi casualties they had been forced to retreat and call a truce.

"Well...you were right, that isn't a good sign for us," the Sandaime returned the pipe to his lips and drew in gently as he contemplated how to proceed. A single cough from the younger man before him brought forth another swell of anxiety for whatever would come next. A silent apology within the Sage’s eyes was all he got in return.

"The rebels in Kiri have finally managed to force the Mizukage's forces off Karachi Island. My sources say they are planning to launch an assault directly on Kirigakure sooner rather than later."

Eyebrow cocked at the tone used, Hiruzen questioned, "That is good news...you don't agree?"

With a simple shake of his head he clarified, "Karachi housed an old Warring Era fortress on the northern cliffs, built amongst the craggy shoreline that made attacking it incredibly difficult. Whether from sea or land those who faced it would suffer severe casualties, which was the intended purpose of the forward outpost, if you wanted to invade the main island in silence that fortress needed to be besieged to prevent raising the alarm and it would bloody the invading forces. Mei Terumī’s force managed to take this position with less than two dozen casualties."

"You doubt their abilities to have beaten Yagura's force?"

White hair shifted as Jiraiya shook his head, "No. Her forces are composed of dedicated, strong shinobi worth the price placed upon their heads. As you know the current Mizukage has been obsessed with his predecessor's discrimination and extermination of Kekkei Genkai. Due to this, the Kiri loyalists have been undermanned for years across the Land of Water. So no, I do not doubt terumī's capabilities at achieving victory."

Finally meeting his old sensei's eyes, "But the loyalists have been known to view her rebels as nothing more than animals awaiting slaughter. Even when facing overwhelming odds they still choose to take as many down with them as possible, like during the razing of Port Taraha six months ago. Rather than surrender the city, and by extension the fishing fleet, they ignited the dockyard and every ship within the harbor as the rebels attacked. Ended up burning down most of the town along with themselves and the civilians. Got quite a few of the rebels as well."

Pausing, the Sannin looked to be reconsidering his words before he resumed where he left off.

"I think the loyalist gave them the fortress. Similar movements have been happening across the nation, seemingly random reassignments and post changes."

"You believe that this is the prelude to something greater, rather than the disorganized crumbling of a failing nation." Hiruzen concluded rubbing his temple as a headache began to form. Turning in his seat the elder looked out over the village, watching people walk along the streets in the early spring afternoon. Usually, allowing himself to become lost in the peace and tranquility they enjoyed was therapeutic for his aged mind, giving him a chance to clarify his thoughts. But now all it did was make him wish his tenure as Hokage had ended long ago.

“I _know_ it’s the beginning of something greater,” Jiraiya looked him dead in the eye before speaking the chilling words he dreaded to hear.

“The Yondaime Mizukage has raised the ashigaru.”

Hand freezing at his temple the Hokage stared into his spymaster’s hard eyes and quietly asked, “Active duty?”

Denying with a head shake he softly said, “Mandatory conscription.”

Warmth fled his body as the implications stood plain as day before him. The ashigaru were the non-shinobi forces that every nation has held for thousands of years. Mostly composed of civilians from across the nation, they were trained to fight with shield, sword, and spear. Unlike the samurai some countries utilized, ashigaru held little to no usage of chakra meaning the founding of the Hidden Villages had been the true end for their frontline duties. For the last three shinobi wars they had been the last line of defense for most nations, and between said wars they acted as a police force for the various towns and cities under the Daimyō. To enforce conscription meant they needed more bodies than their shinobi force could provide

Hiruzen pulled another large drag from his pipe only to find the tobacco had burned out. Tapping out the ashes into the waste basket underneath his desk he replaced the aged pipe into the drawer with a final ring of smoke. Jiraiya stood from his seat and placed himself before the window, arms crossed as he awaited a response.

Tapping gently upon the worn desk his thoughts whirled for a moment before asking, "Can we not aid the rebels in removing the current Mizukage? Maybe a few quiet ANBU..."

Jiraiya glanced over before replying with what he already knew, "Unless you plan on sending the entire ANBU force, a small force won't be much assistance in the long run. On top of that, directly aiding in the overthrow of another great nation's Kage would be all the reason needed to launch an invasion. With Kumo being their usual level of paranoid, Iwa getting cozy with western nations, and Suna already being reluctant in our alliance...the cards are stacked and waiting for something to make them fall. No, if we don't want to start the Fourth Great Shinobi War then leaving this fight up to Terumī is all we can do."

Ominous silence filled the room, a silence Hiruzen had gotten to know too well over his life, the breath before you're never the same again.

"Sixteen years Jiraiya. Not the longest period of peace but far more than we had in the last fifty years." His pupil gently bobbed his head in response, no doubt lost in thoughts of his own.

"Our shinobi have not lost their edge oya-bu, they'll make it through this."

"It's not them I'm afraid for," he said with a sigh. “I remember the First Great Shinobi War Jiraiya. Twenty years of peace from the Warring Era and nobody had forgotten the pain, vengeance, and anger from before. It was always there, bubbling beneath the surface just waiting to be brought back. And when it resurfaced everyone thought the new era was going to end just as quickly as it formed.”

“The first one was terrifying, everyone just waiting for it to collapse around us. But then it just...ended. Everybody went back to peace for another twenty years. Until the second one broke out and it just kept going, for year after year it went on. The second transferred into the third and everyone knew that it was worse than the first.”

“The second and third ones were horrifying. I don’t want to know what the fourth one will be, or what our untested shinobi will have to go through,” Hiruzen swallowed the knot in his throat and pushed back the moisture growing in his eyes. Swiping his sleeve across to rid himself of it he rested his head against the chair’s headrest.

"Jiraiya I want you to remain in the village until after the Chūnin Exams. Stay ready I might need to send you out at a moment's notice." His words were met by the Sage's noise of reluctant agreement, but agreement nonetheless.

Jiraiya stepped beside him and patted the forgotten manuscript he had arrived with. "Remember to not stress yourself into the grave, we still have a chance to prolong that peace." With those last words he unlatched the window and leapt away to the street below, leaving the Sandaime Hokage to ponder the future.

Releasing the privacy seals he cast his eyes towards the portraits of his predecessors, their determined gaze immortalized by the best artists of their time. Out of all the Hokage he was the oldest by far, even surpassing Tobirama-sensei by two decades easily now. Each of the faces that rested upon the wall looked young compared to him, and Konoha was heading towards another war with an old man leading it. Sure only the Sandaime Tsuchikage was older than him, but even the majority of leaders from minor nations were half his age.

With a shake of his head he freed himself from the thoughts of his age and turned towards the problems that challenged the Will of Fire. Pressing the button along the side of his desk he called for his aides. There was much he needed to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you everyone who has reviewed as well as just reading my fic, although to be fair a single review or view was all I expected. Still am looking for feedback and input so review if you want to and let me know how it is so far.  
> Also, I have no plans to set a scheduled update and will post chapters as soon as I am satisfied with them.
> 
> Crossposted on ffnet under same username  
> Finished 12-16-20  
> Word Count : 6122


	3. A Ripple of Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Pay attention to dates since these next few chapters will be kind of jumping around in location and time

A Ripple of Change

* * *

Land of Fire - Konohagakure

March 17

Noon carried an early spring breeze that caused the leaves to ripple gently in a beautiful ocean of green. Sunlight danced across the trees and ground in countless patterns giving everything a nice glow. Across the Land of Fire birds chirped, squirrels danced across treetops, and the people of Konohagakure enjoyed a lunch outside.

One man relaxed on a branch of a grand oak tree, silently enjoying the wind and waiting for it to stop so he wouldn't lose his spot in a certain orange book. Not that he didn't know exactly where he was, he had read this fantastic story more times than he cared to count, but it was more annoying than anything having to wrestle the page into compliance. So he just closed his eye and breathed deeply in the shadowy depths of the tree.

A shout of success brought his eye down as he observed his hyperactive student roll across the Fusaya River again. Finally Naruto had managed to push chakra from multiple tenketsu across his body allowing him the ability to water-walk during combat. Kakashi mentally adjusted the boys training schedule since it appeared chakra control would be his next goal. Naruto was the last of his teammates on the river's surface, although Sasuke had only finished the evening before.

Three days ago Team Seven had begun practicing water-walking and results had been predictable to the jonin. All three had thrown themselves into the exercise with vigor and ended up soaking wet within two minutes flat.

Kakashi had immediately been reminded of Obito whenever Minato-sensei began a new lesson. No holds barred, full force into whatever wall awaited him - which occasionally was literally a wall. Thinking of his deceased friend had brought about the inevitable pain but now it was more like a dull throb rather than lacerating fire. He had his team before him and he wouldn't fail them too.

Sakura had struggled alongside them for barely an hour before she had managed to keep her feet only partially submerged. Shortly after that she was tip-toeing across the deepest parts of the river with ease.

But Kakashi was most pleased with the fact that she had explained the process to her fellow teammates who had, at least partially in the case of a brooding boy, listened to her words. Both boys had benefited from her advice since, each managing to take a few steps by the end of that first day.

On the second day Kakashi had Sakura focus on different sets of acrobatics which forced her to use several key tenketsu across her arms, legs, and back in order to stay atop the surface. Again she had managed it quickly and he then gently spared against her to ensure she could do it while fighting. By the time lunch came around she was soaked to the bone from being knocked down into the river. But from his point of view, she had the water-walking technique mastered.

Sasuke had gotten to sparring that evening - staying late after Sakura had been sent home to rest from mild chakra exhaustion - and by the time the moon had risen above the horizon he too had the technique down.

Now the last member of his team had taken to laying flat on the water's surface with a massive smile. Pride over his accomplishment could have been seen by a blind man, pride which Kakashi shared for his team's advancement. Now he could have some fun knocking his cute little student into the cold water.

Pocketing the orange book he stood and stretched his lax muscles amongst the leaves before pushing off the branch. Landing above the prone boy's head he waited the momentary gap Naruto took to notice his presence and smiled down at him. "Well looks like you are quite comfortable. Finished with my lesson yet?"

Launching up to his feet the boy's eyes gleamed with excitement as he practically shouted, "Yeah Kakashi-sensei! Are we going to fight now?"

"Have you managed to do every one of those exercises I told you to?"

"Yup! Thirty second handstand, ten rolls in a row, and laying down without getting wet. So come on, I want to show you my new super move!"

Raising his sole visible eyebrow the jonin shrugged and stepped back to make space between them. Naruto pushed his elbows down to the water and shoved himself to his feet. Cracking his knuckles the boy turned towards his sensei and grinned. Kakashi raised one hand and formed the Seal of Confrontation. Naruto blinked at the sign before he remembered the Academy lesson Iruka had beaten into him and formed the seal as well. Kakashi smiled once more and said begin.

Crossing his hands into a familiar seal Naruto summoned four shadow clones around him, and using the subsequent smoke, they all ran haphazardly towards the older man.

Kakashi caught the wrist of the first clone that approached with a wild haymaker and glanced between the other four. No discernible features or movements that revealed where Naruto actually was. But all five of the combatants before him didn't so much as blink towards one another, instead they focused entirely on him and charged straight on. He knew the boy well enough to see through the deception, all five were shadow clones. Using the smoke he created with his first shadow clone jutsu he created another and sent it out in his place.

Side-stepping the next clone as it tried to axe-kick him, Kakashi looked towards the nearly dispelled smoke and saw a flash of orange dive into the bushes at the bank of the river. Sighing at the terrible attempt of stealth the jonin dragged the first clone by its wrist into the path of the second one's kick, dispelling it.

[i] _Well...at least he tried something other than bull rushing like last time_ [i], he thought in an attempt to see the positive.

Faster than the clone could imagine, Kakashi's free hand slammed into the second one's neck and popped it out of existence. Spinning about he brought his right leg up and caught the ankles of the next clone, causing it to splash into the river face first. The last two clones rolled out of his range and threw fistfuls of shuriken forcing him to backflip over them. Pulling a single kunai out of his holster, Kakashi paused as the clone he had thrown into the river climbed back out.

Mentally he checked off basic acrobatic maneuvers and returning to the surface once submerged. The second one most genin struggled with as they didn't understand the vertigo feeling of using the very water they were under as a solid surface.

Said waterlogged clone charged forth again as the other two moved to flank him and pincer him in three directions. Impressive strategy from three shadow clones to muster without direction from the original. Glancing towards the riverbank he saw the bushes shake gently as Naruto moved further downstream alongside the rest of them. Curiosity rose within the grey-haired man, but he smothered the urge to uncover his Sharingan for better sight. This was only a practice spar to test the boys water-walking usage during combat, plus it might dishearten Naruto to have whatever plan he was following destroyed in a heartbeat.

 _Obito always gave me shit for ruining his ideas during those early missions_.

So he would just have to face whatever came from his unpredictable student. Pulling out a second kunai he reversed gripped them both in each hand and waited for all three to get in range before stabbing the ones to either side in the shoulder, then drawing up his legs to deliver a drop-kick to the final one straight ahead.

Well that [i] _was_ [i] the plan. But Naruto apparently had a different idea.

Hands grasped onto his ankles from beneath the water preventing him from jumping up, while both clones to his sides clutched onto his arms with the last of their strength. Attempting to wrestle his arms free he realised both clones had anchored their feet _within_ the water, using tenketsu both above and below the soles to stick them in place. Most genin, hell most _shinobi_ never thought to use the water beneath the surface.

Even though the clones were rapidly unraveling it would take a few seconds to overpower the boys. With all of his limbs gripped he had no choice but to take the flying tackle from the third clone. Colliding into his stomach, looping both hands around his body, Kakashi bent back with the blow and yanked his legs free from the grasping hands below. Twin pops from either side sounded and he cartwheeled backwards several times till the orange passenger clinging to his midsection flew off further down the river.

Looking back towards the Naruto climbing out from the water, the jonin observed the gasping, pale-faced boy and realized he had been duped. Glancing towards the bushes he saw the last clone emerge from the bushes and sprint towards him.

Naruto had used the smoke cover to create [i] _two_ [i] shadow clones, one to join the other four and another to hide amongst the bushes, while he dropped into the water. Using the deepest part of the river he had swam along the riverbed while Kakashi was distracted with his clones.

Of course his left eye would have seen the massive chakra source under the water but he had to give it to Naruto, it would work against an unsuspecting opponent.

Now, as he grinned manically behind his mask, he really looked forward to sending the boy into the cold river himself.

\-----

Early evening lazily approached the blond genin as he dropped into the water and decided to simply swim towards the river's edge. Reaching the shallower water he struggled onto the rocky shore before collapsing onto his to rest.

Three hours of sparring with Kakashi-sensei and he had finally finished the water-walking technique. How the masked man determined 'success' was beyond him since he had spent more time in the water rather than on top. Kunai, clones, substitution, even his new move hadn't helped keep the jonin from knocking him down dozens of times. But if he had passed by getting soaked to the bone in the late winter water...who was he to question it?

Leaning over the prone form on the ground and casting his shadow over him, Kakashi smiled brightly. "Tired already? What happened to all that energy from this afternoon?"

Sticking his tongue out he returned, "I'm wet! Give me a minute to dry off and I'll show you how much energy I have!"

"Mah...sounds like too much of a hassle. Good work on your new move, would work well against anybody else."

Naruto looked up at his cheerful sensei with wide eyes before his face broke into a grin so large his face hurt. Having someone praise his efforts was rare in itself, but the few times he was it meant more than any words he could form.

"I'm going to check on the other two, see how well they are doing. Dry yourself off as best as you can and come get your next training orders."

Turning away, the jonin paused before facing him again and extended his closed, right hand. Unfurling his index and middle finger together he waited.

Taking a moment to figure out what Kakashi-sensei wanted he realized with a shock the intentions. Iruka-sensei had ensured every one of his students knew the meaning and importance of traditional shinobi sparring. A Seal of Confrontation at the beginning to signal your intention, and a Seal of Reconciliation to end the match. The first seal was everyone's favorite - mostly because they thought it looked cool - but Iruka-sensei had pushed them constantly until they formed the second seal without being prompted. He had often explained that it was more important than the initial seal because it carried the heavier message ' _We are comrades_ '.

Naruto had made that seal with half his Academy class, but only one who he had spared against multiple times outright refused to participate. To be fair he had also refused after their first match years ago, but it still stung that Sasuke had adamantly refused until Iruka-sensei stopped pairing them off after a few times.

Reaching up with his own right hand, Naruto grasped his sensei's two fingers in his own two and formed the Seal of Reconciliation. Nodding down to him the man flashed another genuine smile and Shushin away.

 _I have to learn that move sooner rather than later. Getting to just_ disappear _from your enemy would be just awesome._

Standing up he moved off the rocky shore and onto the grass where he unzipped his orange jacket to squeeze out the excess water. Struggling for a minute with the bulky awkwardness he wrung the worn article as best he could and tossed it to the side. Quickly following the jacket was his undershirt, chainmail, and pants before he sat down in the sunlight. Although the winter sun was weak it still had enough warmth to dry him off in a short while. Lay on his back he decided to try out Shikamaru's favorite hobby to pass the time, watching the few clouds drift across the early evening sky.

Boredom overwhelmed him moments later leaving him questioning how the lazy boy managed to waste hours any chance he got. Waiting until he was only slightly damp he redressed and ignored the uncomfortable feeling wet clothes caused. This wasn't the first time he had been forced to wear them in less than perfect conditions. Once he had fallen asleep while cleaning clothes forcing him to leave a pool beneath his desk at the Academy. Another time he had spilled an entire bucket of paint over them setting up an elaborate prank, leaving a trail of yellow footprints halfway across the village to his house.

Naruto headed back to the clearing of Training Ground Three excited for whatever new technique he would learn. Maybe Kakashi-sensei would teach him that water dragon jutsu he used back against Zabuza, or maybe an air-walking skill so he could fly! That would make his pranks so much easier if he didn't have to worry about leaving the scene as quick as possible. Ideas filled his mind towards whatever new skill awaited to be learned as he observed the clearing where the other members of Team Seven practiced...not what he expected.

Sakura sat leaning against the middle wooden post, panting like she had just run the length of the village while Sasuke sat propped against a tree a dozen feet away in the shaded forest concentrating on something in his hand. Stepping forward till he stood a few feet from the pinkette he saw that both his fellow genin had the same object they obviously had been working on. A black, palm-sized balloon decorated with grey birds rested in the grass next to Sakura where she tried to catch her breath, sweat beading on her brow. Sasuke clutched a similar balloon in one hand, staring a hole into it as it wobbled unnaturally about. Naruto waited with baited breath for some incredible jutsu to spring forth from his teammates hand, and didn't bother trying to hide his disappointment when only a growl of frustration was the result.

Looking about revealed Kakashi to be standing before the memorial stone, hands resting in his pockets. Naruto moved over to him while continuing to keep an eye on his teammates to see if anything actually happened.

"What are they doing? What kind of jutsu uses balloons?"

"It's not a jutsu, more of a training method each of you need." Kakashi turned to face him, then reached a hand up to rummage inside his flak jacket and brought out a similar deflated balloon. He held it out for Naruto and instructed him to inflate it so it would fit in his hand. As he started to blow it up Kakashi explained his next training method.

"Out of all your classmates you have the largest chakra reserves, in fact you easily meet jonin requirements - at least chakra-wise - with your own power alone." 

Looking up in confusion over his sensei's strange wording Kakashi-sensei waved off his unspoken question and continued on, "In fact that very reason is why you had trouble in the Academy with required jutsu. Because of your naturally high reserves the tenketsu throughout your body are abnormally large, making any jutsu that uses little chakra difficult for you to mold."

Naruto tied off his balloon - struggling for a moment as his finger was caught in the knot - and looked up at the jonin with bewilderment, "What is a 'tent-soo' and why did it make the graduation exam so hard?"

Kakashi hung his head with a sigh then mumbled something to himself and raised his head.

"Okay I want you to make three shadow clones for me real quick."

Shrugging the boy pocketed the balloon and formed the proper seal and focused his chakra in preparation. Before he could finish molding the other man interrupted, "Right now you are channeling chakra down your chakra network into both 'ten-ke-tsu' in each hand. They are points in your chakra network that allows you to move chakra from inside your body to the outside." He poked several times at different places across Naruto's arms and chest before continuing. "Located throughout your body they are what allowed you to water-walk even when neither your hands nor feet are in contact with the water."

Cerulean eyes widening in understanding the genin released a gentle 'oh' before refocusing on forming his clones. When three puffs of smoke appeared behind him, four identical pairs of eyes met a single pair of dark grey.

"Now that was easy for you right?" Four nods met his words before he formed the same seal and concentrated for several seconds.

Naruto spluttered as he came to the realization that someone else knew the shadow clone jutsu. "How do you know the Shadow Clone Jutsu?! I thought it was a forbidden technique kept locked away in the Hokage's Tower because it was a village secret?"

Cocking his head at the youth before him in contemplation Kakashi responded, "Well...it isn't a forbidden technique. Rather a restricted one only qualified people can learn."

Struggling to form words the orange-clad boys released a series of unintelligible noises trying to convey their feelings. Adding fuel to the fire his sensei carried on, "And the Forbidden Scroll is not actually stored in the Tower. The one you stole was a fake to safeguard from thieves."

"WHAT?!" Naruto himself cried.

"THEY WHY WAS EVERYONE SO UPSET WHEN I STOLE IT?!" The clone to his right cried, overlapping the original’s voice.

"AND WHY DID THE FAKE HAVE SHADOW CLONE JUTSU?!" The left clone tagged on while the final one simply shouted up into the sky in disbelief.

"Keeping the villages most powerful and dangerous jutsus in a case, on display, with minimal security is almost too obvious of a trap. Which means some shinobi would think that the Scroll [i] _is_ [i] actually there and try to steal it. So it contains a handful of restricted jutsu at the beginning to imply it being genuine. About halfway through the Scroll is a sealing jutsu that activates once unraveled, sealing them inside the Scroll and alerting the Konoha Intelligence."

"So if it's just a trap why was everyone so angry?"

Kakashi paused and met his eyes, "Sandaime-sama was worried about you. He knew that stealing the Scroll was too serious for it to be a simple prank." Pausing he added, “The old man was worried about you.”

All four blondes had quieted at his words and he suddenly felt a warmth bubble in his chest at the reminder of the Hokage's acceptance of him. Blinking quickly he pushed back the slight dampening in his eyes and shrugged to show he understood.

"Now if you want to get back to tenketsu..."

Once he nodded in confirmation, Kakashi summoned three shadow clones behind him as well. "Now when you create three clones it is easy right?. However for me, three clones is all I can manage if I want to be able to fight reasonably well and it is not because of my chakra reserves. You and I have about the same total chakra, naturally at least, but creating them has already burned more chakra for me than it did for you. This is because I have normal sized tenketsu."

Pausing to check if the genin was still following he continued, "Shadow Clone Jutsu is a chakra-heavy jutsu which most people, like me, need to build up chakra in their tenketsu to meet the required amount. Building up chakra is a difficult thing to do because our chakra network does not like having excessive amounts trapped. This forces us to exude more chakra than necessary to form the jutsu, losing significant amounts as it is contained within the tenketsu. You on the other hand, because of your oversized tenketsu, do not have to worry about losing chakra. Building up chakra is not an issue so you lose very little chakra."

The jonin's clones disappeared in a pop of smoke before he formed another hand seal.

**Clone Jutsu**

A dozen copies of the grey-haired man waved into existence surrounding the boy who dispelled his own clones a moment prior. "This is also the reason you had trouble with basic clone jutsu. Imagine throwing a thousand marbles at a single water bottle opening, sure you will get two or three in there but it will be a waste of the other nine-hundred and ninety-seven. You throw more and more chakra at it, but that is the problem itself. Too much power, not enough precision. Which is where the balloon comes in."

His sensei dispelled the illusions as he pulled out the balloon once more and waited for his next instruction. Reaching out he grabbed Naruto's hand to rearrange his fingers so his thumb and fingers held the balloon at opposite ends, cupping it in the palm of his hand.

"Now like you did with the water-walking I want you to push chakra out your fingertips [i] _into_ [i] the air inside."

Frowning at the weird orders he concentrated like he had back on the river and felt the chakra push up through his arms. After a few seconds he felt the balloon wiggle of its own accord before it deformed in the middle. What was once a sphere turned into a flatter, vertical oval as the middle bulged out in response to his chakra. Staring at expanding shape intently, he jumped as the balloon suddenly popped in his hand. Glancing up he saw his sensei nodded and reached back into his flak jacket.

"This is an exercise to practice limited chakra control. Due to your large tenketsu you struggle with regulating small amounts of chakra, meaning any lower level jutsu will be nearly impossible for you at the moment."

Pulling out a pack of deflated balloons he offered them to Naruto, "Once you can hold a balloon in an oval for five minutes straight with your chakra alone I will teach you a useful jutsu."

“Are Sakura-chan and ‘Teme also working on controlling their ‘tenkets’ control?”

Once again a sigh met his words along with an obligatory exasperated headshake. “Tenketsu, and only Sasuke is working on control. Sakura has the opposite problem being that her control is perfect but she doesn’t have large reserves of chakra. So slightly different method for her to practice.”

Naruto looked over the balloon in his hand thinking about the various jutsu his sensei had used back in Wave. Controlling a column of water shaped like a dragon head, creating dogs out of thin air, coating his hand in lightning. Getting to know even one of those would make him the envy of every genin that had graduated a few months ago.

“Is...is this how you managed to get so strong Kakashi-sensei? By using balloons?”

His teacher’s eyes softened slightly as he looked down in thought.

“No, I never really had trouble with control or power. But my...teammate was...like you. Liked to throw everything he had into something even if it only made it so he got in his own way. But our sensei was brilliant and came up with a way for him to reel in his power,” returning his gaze to Naruto, Kakashi reached out to tousle the blond’s hair. “In fact he later used this training method to develop his own high-level jutsu.”

“Ohhh! Can that be the jutsu you teach me?”

“Might have to get some more basic ones down first...but I don’t see why not.”

Eyes sparkling at the thought of learning an actual jutsu the orange shinobi snapped off a salute and pulled out another balloon to inflate. Moving to lean against his wooden post he glanced over at Sakura who had picked up her own balloon to deform as well. She sent a small polite smile his way before refocusing on her own work. 

Focusing on his balloon he pushed chakra into it as gently as he could...and watched it explode almost immediately afterwards.

He might need to buy another bag of balloons.

Shortly afterwards his next one seemingly popped even faster.

Okay...maybe like a dozen more bags.

\--[🍃]--

Land of Waterfalls - Unknown

June 2

Nestled in the south-east highlands of the Land of Waterfalls the simple ruins of a long forgotten town sat far off any beaten path, isolated from practically everyone and far enough within the country that no Takigakure (Waterfall) shinobi regularly patrolled. Buildings that once stood proud had collapsed entirely as the surrounding forest reclaimed the land. Grey, weathered stone was all that peaked from the dirt and between bushes, wood having rotted away to aid nature in its growth. Great oaks stood tall under the sun as willows and maples thrived in what little light snaked through, leaving the ground in deep shade. 

Which made the perfect place for one to establish a base for conducting research any nation would deem too insane.

A cloaked figure moved through the dense undergrowth and building remnants, stopping before a pile of stone chunks to check their surroundings. Assured that none others were present they pressed a foot against one particular cobblestone and channeled chakra into the hidden seal. With a pop of dislocated matter two of the largest chunks disappeared into a seal revealing a spiraling staircase carved out of an old well. Leaping into the hole he landed halfway down the pathway and strolled on at a leisurable pace as the seal returned the chunks overhead, plunging the figure in darkness. Disregarding the lack of sight he walked from memory until the first torch lit the stone passageway.

Walls etched with wavy lines, a side-effect of the acid used to quickly form the underground structure, curved steadily downwards with several rooms and hallways branching off in a chaotic maze intended to confuse any who trespassed. But not for him who merely made the correct turns and deviations towards his goal, ignoring the empty rooms and quiet halls. Finally the end of the winding passage appeared with a single metal door.

Twenty minutes to reach his destination, and this was one of his master's [i] _smaller_ [i] bases. Paranoia, while necessary for their work to be conducted, was the true limiter of success.

Opening the door he stepped inside the tiled room lit by dozens of candles where a sole figure worked, bent over a metal table in the dim light. Smoke, ink, and blood rose against the underlying smell of disinfectant in a losing battle. The arrival readjusted his glasses while awaiting for the other to finish their work.

Replacing the severed snake head in a glass jar his master started a new line of runes across the paper scroll laid out on the table. Blood glistened, contrasting the black ink and light-purple poison runes already present on the seal. Silence sat between the two, broken only by the scratch of a pen. 

So his mentor was not happy with his unannounced arrival. Thus he would be forced to wait to be addressed. Minutes ticked by as the scroll was filled with more and more complex runes until finally the pen was placed down and he was spoken too.

"You have news Kabuto-kun." Not a question, but a threat. Chills subtly traveled down his spine. Thankfully he did not have to fear that threat today.

"Yes Orochimaru-sama. I assume you have heard the news out of the Land of Water?"

Waiting a beat for an answer he continued on when none came, "Has this altered your plans at all?"

Orochimaru's hand paused while he rolled the scroll up for a moment then tied it off. A slitted eye pinned him with a questioning glare out of the corner of his eye.

"I fail to see how this turn of events would alter the well laid plans already in motion." Suspicion and doubt colored the traitorous Sannin's voice at the perceived lack of commitment.

Lips upturning into a smile Kabuto produced a slim scroll from his pocket and offered it. "Said 'well-laid plans' might have been upset already."

Pale fingers accepted the scroll and unrolled it to analyze. Knowing that the older nukenin was reviewing the list of Konoha chunin participants - or rather the absence of one individual in particular - along with the presence of a Toad Sage inside the village, he awaited the incoming anger. Hissing out a loaded breath, the Snake Sannin's face twisted in rage before he ripped the scroll in half and let it fall to the ground. Kabuto avoided eye contact until his master merely seethed with disapproval.

"I do believe that this will bring positive results still...if appropriate adjustments are implemented," the silver-haired man said. "Of course we will lose Suna as an ally but that is not a true loss there."

"Our alliance with them gave us a reasonable chance at crippling Konoha. Without, our forces alone would just bloody their nose. So care to explain why letting this opportunity go benefits our cause?"

Onyx eyes meeting slitted gold ones the spy responded, "Well I still have a final bit of intel. Sasori has contacted me."

Quiet air met his words. Orochimaru cocked his head in thought before he reached out and placed two fingers upon Kabuto's brow. Pain blossomed through his head as what felt like a red-hot poker was jabbed through. Gritting his teeth till they hurt he waited for the invasive chakra to stop rooting through his brain. Finding nothing out of place the pale man withdrew his fingers, allowing Kabuto to resume speaking.

"A week ago the restoration seal activated and I was ordered to meet him outside the town of Chūra. He wanted me to reposition myself to Shimogakure (Frost)." 

His master frowned at the mention of his old Akatsuki ally and the odd repositioning. Kabuto had the same thought last week since Sasori had specifically targeted him to join the puppeteers network of spies because of his connection to _Orochimaru_ , so to move him away from the Snake Sannin was strange. However the intelligence operative of the Akatsuki had wanted to use the Shimo cover he had created long ago, a defected Iwa chunin seeking asylum from his medical kinjutsu crimes.

"My standing orders are to report twice a day the movements of all shinobi and essential persons within, and around, the Land of Frost. Nothing withheld or overlooked, a full dossier minute-by-minute."

"So...Leader will finally begin the attack on the Great Nations." Anger fading out at the idea his face adopted a smirk before speaking, "Then the entire eastern coast will soon be embroiled in war."

Nodding at the natural conclusion he too had made, Kabuto removed his glasses to wipe clean while he spoke. "Best case scenario this will trigger the Fourth Great Shinobi War, allowing us to easily eliminate the Third Hokage and capture Sasuke-san while they are weakened and distracted. Worst case scenario it will still involve at least two Great Nations as the Akatsuki exasperate the conflict to suit their goals. Even then Konoha will have to divert ANBU and jonin teams to patrol their eastern border, still allowing us an opportunity to attack."

"However an alliance with Suna to attack during the Chunin Exams still presents the best chance to cripple Konoha and acquire my new body." Again, a question in the form of an unspoken threat about doubting his master's efforts.

Sighing, Kabuto replaced his eyewear and met the older man's gaze. "Every Hidden Village will be reorganizing their military and international focus in regard to this development in the Land of Water. Eyes will look outward rather than inward. Access to new kekkai genkai and hidden jutsu from more...reserved countries will become viable for research and assimilation."

Slitted eyes bored through the spy's glasses trying to find fault in the logic brought before him. Moments later, it appeared he hadn't.

"So much time and effort wasted in bringing Suna to our side...any thoughts on how to refund that particular venture?"

"Unfortunately losing them as our ally under current leadership would be all we can get," he said with a shake of his head. "But there are better allies to be made than a handful of sun-baked rodents. Not to mention waiting this out could present the optimal opportunity to achieve our goals."

Orochimaru turned back to the metal table pulling out a fresh scroll from one of the drawers beneath. Grabbing the pen he rotated his head to look over his shoulder towards the younger man. "What of acquiring my new body and eyes? Waiting too long could close off the long anticipating, _single_ avenue towards a full Sharingan."

"While the boy is Itachi-san's brother he can't hold a candle to break free of his shadow. Every record and mission report I have observed shows Sasuke's complete failure to live up to his elder brother. Years could pass and it wouldn't be difficult to retrieve him." Continued staring forced him to address the question head-on, "His genin team is headed by Kakashi Hatake, the man is too well suited for combat to waste away teaching _within_ Konohagakure. Eventually he will bring his team onto a mission away from the full might of the Land of Fire, and if we plan appropriately, can easily hit-and-run the boy away while Kimimaro, Guren, or even yourself delay Kakashi-san."

Returning his attention to the scroll laying awaiting his mark Kabuto accepted the silent dismissal. He opened the door and walked out, gently closing the door behind him so he wouldn't disturb his master. Striding back through the mess of hallways he was not looking forward to the trip back to Shimogakure through three neighboring countries all the while dodging various patrols and then having to make his report to Sasori within the short timeframe he was given.

But the effort was worth it in the end. 

It always was.

Years and years of dedication would yield the sweetest fruit of his labour, and every additional moment only made it better and better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yay first chapter of 2021! Been over a month since last chapter but I wasn't feeling good about this chapter till now so I sat on it for awhile to see what I wanted changed. Gotten a bit done for the next so hopefully I can post it before the end of January. Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you want I am still looking for feedback.
> 
> Yes the balloon training is in fact the first stage of Rasengan, but instead of rotating it in multiple directions it's just one. I felt like the balloon was a good training method for chakra control since it was the exact same manipulation that tree- and water-walking used. And no, I will not be giving Sakura and Sasuke Rasengan.  
> I wanted to start building some of the late game themes and ideas Shippuden introduced, some that held incredible importance but were literally added last minute, so there is the Konoha Seals of Confrontation/Reconciliation.  
> Gave a bit of backstory and origin to Rasengan. (why was the Rasengan based on the biju bomb? How many times did Minato even see a fully formed biju?)
> 
> Crossposted on ffnet  
> Finished: 1-24-2021  
> Word Count: 5885

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: While this is the first story I have posted publicly, I have several unfinished works that have been written over the years. I am posting this now to kind of test the waters on how well people, besides myself, view my work. So I would appreciate feedback on any aspect of this story; what you feel works well, what doesn't work well, what I need to improve on and what I have a need to focus less on. But I guess the biggest question I have is whether or not my work is readable, and enjoyable, to any degree.  
> While I do have the majority of the plot planned out, there is a lack of actual written story, so I plan to update this story but I am hesitant due to not knowing if my style of writing needs to drastically change before writing out tens of thousands of words.  
> Thank you for reading, and if you did, reviewing.
> 
>   
> Cross-Posted on ffnet under same username  
> Chapter Release: 12-10-20  
> Word Count : 3862


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